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Successive braking of the vehicle, hereinafter referred as brake duty cycle, can elevate the temperature of the brake disc to a very high level. Such high temperatures reached in brake discs can lead to vaporization of the brake fluid if the vehicle is at rest after the brake duty cycle. Excessive temperature operation of the brake disc can also lead to thermal cracks, judder, brake fade, wear and reduce braking effectiveness. Simulation tools can be used to predict the excessive temperature reached during successive braking event. After visualizing the complex flow field over the brake system and analyzing the heat transfer from brake system, simulations can be employed at the early design stage to optimize the design for more airflow over brake discs thus reducing the high temperatures and associated brake fade. In this paper, a CFD model of the vehicle with brake system is coupled with a thermal solver at braking and acceleration velocities.

Creep groan is an annoying brake noise at very low speeds of the vehicle. In general, stick-slip between brake disk and brake pads is believed to be the most dominating vibration mechanism of creep groan phenomena. This paper will show by sophisticated measurement techniques that stick-slip and speed-dependent friction is an important trigger. However, the overall vibration is much more complex than stick-slip reproduced by simple conveying belt minimal models. It turns out that in typical brake systems of passenger cars, creep groan appears from 15 to 25 Hz as well as 60 to 100 Hz. The mechanism from 15 to 25 Hz is highly impulsive and “hard”. Transitions between stick and slip phases trigger coupled nonlinear vibrations of the complete brake and suspension system. From 60 to 100 Hz, the vibrations show a more harmonic-like and “soft” signature, caused mainly by a speed-dependent friction behavior.

E-mobility is a game changer for the automotive domain. It promises significant reduction in terms of complexity and in terms of local emissions. With falling prices and recent technological advances, the second generation of electric vehicles (EVs) that is now in production makes electromobility an affordable and viable option for more and more transport mission (people, freight). Current e-vehicle platforms still present architectural similarities with respect to combustion engine vehicle (e.g., centralized motor). Target of the European project EVC1000 is to introduce corner solutions with in-wheel motors supported by electrified chassis components (brake-by-wire, active suspension) and advanced control strategies for full potential exploitation. Especially, it is expected that this solution will provide more architectural freedom toward “design-for-purpose” vehicles built for dedicated usage models, further providing higher performances.

In an environment of tougher engineering constraints to deliver tomorrow's aerodynamic vehicles, evaluation of aerodynamics early in the design process using digital prototypes and simulation tools has become more crucial for meeting cost and performance targets. Engineering needs have increased the demands on simulation software to provide robust solutions under a range of operating conditions and with detailed geometry representation. In this paper the application of simulation tools to wheel design in on-road operating conditions is explored. Typically, wheel and wheel cover design is investigated using physical tests very late in the development process, and requires costly testing of many sets of wheels in an on-road testing environment (either coast-down testing or a moving-ground wind-tunnel).

A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits the motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by friction energy. Commonly, most brakes use friction between two surfaces pressed together to convert the kinetic energy of the moving object into heat, though other methods of energy conversion may be employed. If braking is repeated or sustained in high load or high-speed conditions, the motion will be unstable and can lead to a loss of stopping power because the disc capability for braking is not enough. These phenomena are generally defined as brake fading. Brake fade is caused by an overheating brake system. This paper describes the thermal modeling and process to predict the disk temperature under a condition which causes the fade characteristics.

The airflow into the engine bay of a passenger car is used for cooling down essential components of the vehicle, such as powertrain, air-conditioning compressor, intake charge air, batteries, and brake systems, before it returns back to the external flow. When the intake ram pressure becomes high enough to supply surplus cooling air flow, this flow can be actively regulated by using arrays of grille shutters, namely active grille shutters (AGS), in order to reduce the drag penalty due to excessive cooling. In this study, the operation of AGS for a generic SUV-type model vehicle is optimized for improved fuel economy on a highway drive cycle (part of SFTP-US06) by using surrogate models. Both vehicle aerodynamic power consumption and under-hood cooling performance are assessed by using PowerFLOW, a high-fidelity flow solver that is fully coupled with powertrain heat exchanger models.

Vibration testing is common in automotive industry validation and gains greater significance with increasing numbers of electrical components, which are particularly suspectable to vibration related failures. While the nature and intention of vibration testing is common, many contradicting testing standards claim to be a one-size-fits-all solution, leading to questions of which standard is correct for any specific application. This is compounded by the vast variation in vehicle types and applications (suspension systems, dampers, powertrain mass, tire radius, intended usage, etc.) This paper seeks to offer and demonstrate a method to determine characteristic vibration profiles, based on vehicle classes, and illuminate the process to accelerate these to an appropriate test profile. This can either be used to directly validate a system or to support the selection of the most appropriate vibration profile from options within standards.